Shocked and surprised, the officials discussed it widely.
But the discussion soon came to an abrupt end.
The officials present were all on Wei Baoheng and Wu Hongshan"s side, while Li Ye was their political opponent. Exclamation and praise were inappropriate at this moment. They had the suspicion of exalting others and belittling themselves, so they all shut up, even if the fact that Li Ye, as a genius among the young cultivators in Chang"an, had defeated the most talented person in the va.s.sal state, was a great honor for Chang"an. At this time, it wasn"t good to continue to discuss it.
Li Keyong stared at Li Ye and his expression changed a lot. He felt ashamed and resentful. He seemed to weigh whether to do something else to save his face or not. But eventually, he did nothing. After a while, he cupped his hands towards Li Ye and said, "I lost and you"re more powerful than me!"
After saying that, Li Keyong cupped his hands towards Wu Hongshan and said directly, "Farewell!"
He was unwilling to say much more because it was useless. After he had been defeated, anger or anything else would only make him look low-cla.s.s. What was more, he didn"t want to stay here much longer because he didn"t want to be laughed at.
Li Keyong left Emperor"s son-in-law"s Manor with Li Kerang and his attendants hurriedly.
Wu Hongshan didn"t expect that the situation would come to this point. In his previous view, Li Ye had no chance of winning Li Keyong in any case, so he didn"t make any arrangement. At present, he wanted to retain Li Keyong and make up for him, however, Li Keyong left decisively, so he could do nothing but sigh.
The officials present treated Li Ye differently from before and most of them began to fear him. In their previous opinions, Li Ye was just so lucky that his cultivation improved quickly and nothing should be taken seriously. But the power that Li Ye had shown today made them have to reexamine him and they had a new understanding of his status in w.a.n.g Duo and Lu Yan"s party.
Li Ye accepted everyone"s expression in his eyes and his expression didn"t change. When he fought Li Keyong just now, he didn"t show all of his strength. Although he had more or less exposed his strength, it didn"t affect the overall situation. Of course, there would be some impacts, but everything should pay the price. So he had to pay for it if he wanted to stop Li Keyong and Wu You"s marriage.
Li Ye thought it was worthwhile when he saw Wu You jump for joy in front of him.
In addition, he had planned to show parts of his strength today, which related to his next arrangement.
After Li Keyong had left, the banquet continued, but the atmosphere became somber because, in their eyes, Li Keyong was the core of today"s banquet. Now that Li Keyong had gone, the banquet became uninteresting, so before long, the officials left one after another.
Li Ye didn"t want to stay longer either, his purpose had been achieved, and he didn"t want to deal with Wu Hongshan courteously any more. In his opinion, Wu Hongshan was a sn.o.b. As long as he became powerful, there would be no problem between him and Wu You.
"Your Highness, please come with me. I have something to talk to you."
Li Ye felt surprised that Wu Hongshan"s tone was intimate. It showed that Wu Hongshan thought of him as someone familiar with and close to and they were equal to each other.
"Father..." Wu You hesitated.
"You go back first. Rest a.s.sured. I can"t do anything to him in his present ability." Wu Hongshan smiled bitterly as he saw Wu You"s defensive look.
Li Ye nodded to Wu You, and then he left the hall to the backyard with Wu Hongshan. There was no building in the backyard, but a rockery and a lake, as well as many flowers and plants. The area was quite wide. They walked across the covered bridge to the pavilion in the lake.
Wu Hongshan stood in front of an armchair with his hands behind his back and stared at the lake, silent for a moment. He suddenly said, "Your Highness, although you have defeated Li Keyong today, d.u.c.h.ess"s marriage will not end here. I"m sure that you should understand."
Standing next to Wu Hongshan, Li Ye didn"t feel surprised as he heard this. "It"s natural. Although Li Keyong lost face today, the face is dispensable in the face of interests. He can go back on his words, especially when he faces huge benefits."
Wu Hongshan frowned and looked at Li Ye. "Since you know that the marriage of d.u.c.h.ess and Li Keyong is a general trend, why are you coming today? Just to embarra.s.s me? I don"t think you"re so narrow-minded."
Li Ye shook his head. "The marriage of d.u.c.h.ess and Li Keyong isn"t a general trend."
Wu Hongshan said, "How could it not be a general trend with His Majesty"s permission and Duke Wei"s encouragement?"
Li Ye said, "In the final a.n.a.lysis, the trend that you are talking about depends on man"s effort. What if His Majesty withdrew his order and Duke Wei could not help it?"
Wu Hongshan stunned for a while. "You can do this?"
Li Ye answered, "It depends on man"s effort."
Wu Hongshan frowned more tightly, and after a while, he understood. "You"re here today is to ruin Li Keyong"s reputation?"
Li Ye said, "A man who breaks his words won"t have a good reputation."
Wu Hongshan shook his head again. "This is far from enough."
Li Ye said, "I can"t say much about the rest."
Wu Hongshan looked at Li Ye for a long time, and then he said with a bitter smile, "It seems that you"ve got a plan... I just don"t get you anymore. "Or I never do."
Li Ye was silent.
Wu Hongshan followed the silence for a moment and suddenly said, "I haven"t been to Prince An"s Manor since the old Prince An pa.s.sed away. I feel guilty about that..."
"Why do you say this?" Li Ye interrupted Wu Hongshan.
Wu Hongshan sighed. "I just want you to understand that although your position as the vice magistrate of the Chang"an Office was appointed by His Majesty, your situation is not necessarily rosy... I hope that you would be more careful."
Li Ye smiled. "Are you concerned about me?"
Wu Hongshan stared at the lake and his voice was as steady as ever. "In recent years, the world is in turmoil and the situation of Chang"an is getting more and more treacherous. It seems like the catastrophe is coming. I just hope that, whether we are enemies or allies, whether we are happy or unhappy, whether we experience a blessing or a misfortune, we will all live a peaceful life."
Li Ye frowned and looked at Wu Hongshan as if to distinguish the truth of his words.
Wu Hongshan stared at the lake, lost in thought.
After Li Ye returned from Emperor"s son-in-law"s Manor, it was a dark night. He didn"t rest immediately when he came back to his room. It wasn"t long after he sat down, Song Jiao sat down on the chair with a faint fragrance wafting in. She never knocked on the door, nor could she make a notification when she went in and out of Li Ye"s room. She was casual about doing this. According to her own words, if she didn"t care, why would Li Ye care.
Li Ye also gradually understood Song Jiao"s mind. He asked Song Jiao as he saw her sitting calmly. "Is there any progress?"
"I can hide nothing from you. The Liaison of Lulong Commissioner in Youzhou has arrived at the Manor and he"s waiting downstairs." Song Jiao smiled brightly. Li Ye was confused, because she smiled a little too much.
"Let him come up." Li Ye nodded. A few days ago, after his a.s.sa.s.sination of Kang Chengxun in Luoyang, he met a group of cultivators who were the men of Lulong Commissioner in Youzhou.
Two people were brought upstairs soon. The person walking in the front was in his thirty with a social smile, which officials would wear when they had social activities, on his face. He was Zhang He, the Liaison in Youzhou. The Liaison was an official resident in Chang"an on behalf of the va.s.sal state and responsible for contacting Chang"an and the va.s.sal state.
Who really interested Li Ye was the man behind Zhang He. He had square eyes and elegant style of a Confucian. He was the leader of the cultivators whom Li Ye had encountered after his a.s.sa.s.sination of Kang Chengxun. Li Ye understood Song Jiao"s weird smile as he saw this man.
But Li Ye and Song Jiao had disguised themselves at that time so Li Ye could recognize him, but he couldn"t recognize Li Ye.
Li Ye greeted them to sit down. For the first time they met, they naturally flattered each other. After the greetings, Li Ye began to enter the topic. "After the Rebellion of Pang Xun, the force of the Zhenwu Army expands day by day. As far as I know, Zhenwu Army and Lulong Army have been in conflict for two years. This time, Li Keyong came to Chang"an to ask proposal to d.u.c.h.ess of Li. If the marriage is settled, the force of the Zhenwu Army will become unprecedented powerful in a short time. What do you think?"
When Li Ye had mentioned the Zhenwu Army, Zhang He was resentful. The two states were at odds with each other all the time. At this moment, since Li Ye had asked, he began to accuse the Zhenwu Army of all kinds of misdeeds, nothing more than competing for excellent recruits and Taoist cultivators, bribing powerful officials, embezzling a lot of resources belong to the Lulong Army to the Zhenwu Army, and so on. Of course, some of these accusations were true and some were false with many embellishments.
"Li Guochang is a Shatuo, who is cunning and greedy and has no morals. It"s truly hateful that he has embezzled our Lulong Army"s pay for his own gain, regardless of the border situation in Youyun!" Zhang He paused and then he whispered, "Rumors have it that Li Guochang sent someone to a.s.sa.s.sinate Mr. Kang, the Commissioner of Hedong, a few days ago..."
As he said this, he looked as certain as if he had witnessed the matter personally.
Li Ye and Song Jiao exchanged a glance as they listened to his words, trying to laugh.
Li Ye said solemnly, "Mr. Kang went to Hedong to take office for restraining the Zhenwu Army. Why could he suddenly leave the va.s.sal state and why could he be a.s.sa.s.sinated halfway? It was really strange..."
Zhang He was excited as he saw Li Ye speak for the Lulong Army. "There"s no doubt that Li Guochang played an important role in the matter. To tell you the truth, Li Guochang has threatened many times to drive Mr. Kang out of Hedong..."
Li Ye was suddenly enlightened. "Therefore, Mr. Kang was a.s.sa.s.sinated..."
Zhang He said, "Most likely Li Guochang did it!"
Li Ye asked, "Do you have any evidence?"
Zhang He stunned. "Evidence?"
Li Ye seriously said, "How can he be convicted of a crime without evidence?"
Zhang He was speechless.
But soon, he understood Li Ye"s meaning. His hands trembled with excitement.